Two Weeks and Six Days
by SmileWhileYouStillHaveTeeth
Summary: It had been three weeks; three weeks since the Saviour had sacrificed herself for Regina's happiness. Three weeks since Emma Swan's name had been etched into the Dark One's dagger. Three weeks since Snow White and Prince Charming had set off on their quest to Camelot in search of the way to remove the curse from their daughter. SQ one shot. Ignores all season 5 antics


A/N: This story based on the events at the end of the Season 4 finale. It ignores everything that happens in 5a.

I wrote this just before season 5 started. I got this idea in my idea about Snow telling Emma how she could remove the Dark One's curse and I just couldn't shake it. I hadn't intended to post it, but I've just started writing my first proper SQ fic and I thought I may as well post this one too. It's kind of crackish so they may seem a bit OOC.

(BTW if you want to check out my other one it's called Let your Heart be Your Guide. Sorry-not-sorry for the blatant self-promotion.)

I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything OUAT related, only my imagination.

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It had been three weeks; three weeks since the Saviour had sacrificed herself for Regina's happiness. Three weeks since Emma Swan's name had been etched into the Dark One's dagger. Three weeks since Snow White and Prince Charming had set off on their quest to Camelot in search of the way to remove the curse from their daughter.

Three Weeks Ago

In the middle of Main Street, Snow watched as her daughter disappeared into a swirling, black vortex of darkness; the Dark One's dagger clattering to the ground. She ran over to the spot her beautiful, brave first born had once occupied and picked up the intricately etched blade which now sported the name of the Saviour in lieu of its previous master.

"We've lost her again," Snow sobbed as she hugged the dagger to her chest. "Why does this keep happening to us, David." Charming slipped his arms around his wife and held her tight.

Reassuringly he whispered into her ear, "We'll find her, Snow. We always find each other. It's what we do." Before placing a soft kiss on his wife's forehead.

"Uh…Hey, guys," Snow and David's heads whipped around to the direction the unmistakable voice came from, "I'm right here!"

"See, I told you we always find each other," David said as he beamed his most charming smile in his wife's direction, eyes filled with love.

"Wow, and it only took you thirty seconds, Mr Nolan." Regina snarked as she rolled her eyes." That must be a new record for you."

Snow and Charming ignored the remark, instead choosing to take in the sight of their daughter stood before them. Gone were the long golden waves, warm smile, red leather jacket and skinny jeans of the Sheriff. In her place was the Dark Swan, clad head to toe in black leather. She wore thigh high boots, skin-tight pants, a bodice that synched her in at the waist and a long coat which billowed behind her in the Maine wind.

"Swan, if I knew you loved to wear black leather so much, I would have let you borrow some of mine," Hook said as he hungrily took in the sight of the new Dark One.

"Killian, you literally have two outfits, " Emma began in a lower and more deliberate tone than the others were accustomed to, "and the last time I checked the Jolly Rodger didn't have much in the way of Laundry facilities."

"Aye, fair point, Love" Hook replied as his gaze wandered down the Saviours form in her brand new Dark One attire.

"Well, it's certainly a bold look, Miss Swan," Regina said, deciding to interrupt the exchange. Head tilted, she took in the appearance of Emma, "I'm not sure about the eyebrows, or lack of them to be precise, but each to their own." She smirked raising her own perfectly sculpted brow. Immediately Emma's hand shot up to her face feeling for the aforementioned eyebrows.

"Seriously…What the hell?"

"All magic come with a price, dear. Evidently your eyebrows were yours." The brunette quipped unable to hide her smirk. The blonde would have raised her brow, but instead settled on folding her arms across her chest and huffing in response.

"Emma, we were so worried," Snow ran over to her daughter wrapping her arms around the unflinching Dark One, "When you disappeared I thought we'd lost you again." Taking a step back to look at Emma, she continued in a concerned tone "How are you feeling? Do you feel any different?"

"What? Aside from being unable to breathe in this corset and having a slightly colder forehead you mean?" Emma responded. Humour was her go-to coping mechanism when she was uncomfortable and felt out of her depth. Well, humour and running, but she couldn't imagine anyone letting the Dark One out of their sight long enough for her to run anywhere. "Uh… I dunno really. I don't want to murder any of you yet if that's what you're worried about." The blonde smiled in an attempt to reassure her obviously panic-stricken mother, but it came across cold. Charming strode over purposefully, clasping his daughter on the shoulder and flashing her a warm smile.

"Don't worry Emma, we'll find a way to get you back to your old self" he spoke with certainty. "Eyebrows and all."

"Okay everyone, how about we all just quit it with the eyebrow stuff? I am the Dark one you know." Emma stated, straightening her stance to look more ominous.

"How about the hair, Miss Swan? Can we mock the hair?" Regina queried thinking up her best sassy remarks.

"Fine you get one comment each, then I'm leaving" Emma huffed impatiently. "Or turning you all into statues or something else Dark One's do."

"Okay give me a second, I want to make it a good one."

xxxxxxxxxxx

It was decided that night three weeks ago, that David and Mary Margret would travel to Camelot with Hook in tow on the Jolly Rodger. They would find Merlin and discover a way to break the Dark One's curse upon Emma Swan. Meanwhile, Emma would stay in Storybrooke with Regina in order to learn how to control her newfound dark magic. This also meant they could keep her away from any potential the temptations to give into the darkness they may encounter on their travels.

They Sailed, trekked and fought their way through new lands and uncharted realms, but eventually the Charmings found Camelot. After gathering the information necessary to release the Saviour from the Dark One's dagger they made their way home. Three weeks after leaving on their quest, they had now arrived back in Storybooke and were ready to save their daughter.

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Snow White made her way up the path to the mayoral mansion; she'd headed there as soon as she'd arrived in the docks after her gruelling three-week voyage. Her clothing was torn and covered in dirt. Blood and mud still caked her hands and face. Her hair was no longer in its usual sleek pixie cut, but as dishevelled as the rest of her appearance. However, none of that mattered in that moment, for she had achieved what she had set out to. For once in her life, she had done right by her daughter. She had discovered how to rid her Emma of the Dark One's curse. Hopefully, this would, in some small way, make up for all the times she had failed as a mother.

With pride and a bounce in her step, Snow walked up the drive of 108 Mifflin Street and stood on the porch. She waited for a few moments as she gathered herself. She had only spent a few hours with Emma since she became the Dark One, so seeing her that way again may come as a shock. Regina had attempted to reassure her that Emma was doing well when she spoke with her on the phone when she'd arrived back in town. However, Snow White still didn't know exactly what sort of state her daughter would be in when she saw her.

Just as she raised her hand to knock the front door, it swung open. "Mom, it's so good to see you." Emma wrapped her arms around her mother's shoulders. Snow relaxed into the brief hug, relief washing over her upon seeing her daughter; her heart never failed to melt whenever Emma referred to her as her mother.

"Emma, I came straight here as soon as we arrived back." Snow stepped back slightly so she could take in her daughter's appearance. If Snow didn't know any better, she would think that Emma Swan was back to her normal self. Gone were the black leathers; replaced instead with jeans and a flannel shirt. Her skin no longer had the awful deathly pale quality it had once possessed. The white slicked back hair had now returned to it's natural blonde state, which hung in loose curls around her shoulders. "I have so much to tell you." Snow continued.

"So do I" was her daughter's reply.

xxxxxxx

"Couldn't you have at least showered and changed your clothes before entering my house, Miss Blanchard?" Regina huffed as she placed a towel on a chair in her study for Snow to sit on. "Always been so inconsiderate…" Regina continued to mutter to herself under her breath as she made her way over to the sofa where Emma was sat.

"So Mary-Marget, before you start there's probably something I should…" Emma was cut off mid sentence by her Mother's raised hand.

"Emma we will have plenty of time for all this later. I don't want you to have to live with this darkness inside you a moment longer than necessary."

"But…"

"No, you can tell me anything you need to after I have finished explaining what Merlin informed us of. Please, just let me do this for you, Emma." Snow insisted with pleading eyes, willing her daughter to understand to importance of what she was about to say.

"I really think…" Regina tried to interject, but the younger brunette just glowered at her. A look Regina knew from experience meant that now was not the time for Snow not to be argued with. Regina looked at Emma next to her; they both made a silent agreement to allow the other woman to proceed.

When both sets of eyes were back on her Snow continued, "So, as you both know we needed to find Merlin for him to tell us how to break the Dark One's curse" the two woman opposite her nodded and hummed in agreement. "Well after a hellish couple of weeks, we managed to find him- believe me, that man did not want to be found. But as you know finding people runs in the family." Snow smiled proudly at her daughter. "Anyway, when we asked how to stop someone from being the Dark One, we got the response we always knew. Someone would have to stab them with the dagger and become the Dark One themselves, blah…blah…blah…" Snow shook her head and rolled her eyes at this, to inform her audience of two that this information was useless drivel. "He then rambled on about the Dark One's of the past and their power hungry ways. How they deserved nothing more than the death bestowed upon them. He was really quite tedious."

"Miss Blanchard, how does any of this supposedly help Emma?" Regina cut in losing patience with the younger woman.

"I'm getting there Regina. The backstory is important." Snow huffed indignantly. Regina just rolled her eyes and gestured with her hand for the other woman to continue.

"Okay, where was I." Snow thought back to before she was rudely interrupted; remembering where she left off with her story she continued. "Oh yes, Merlin was ranting about the previous Dark One's and how they always had selfish reasons for gaining possession of their magic- power, greed, revenge. You know, the usual villain traits." Snow casually turned to Regina, giving her a sheepish smile and added, "No offence."

The older brunette let out a breath and counted to ten in her mind. As much as she had learned to tolerate Snow White recently, it was times like this she rued not choking her in her sleep a long time ago. Regina plastered one of her infamous mayoral smiles on her face, masking any annoyance from showing. Biting back the barbed comment desperate to escape her lips.

"Mary Margret, can you just get to the point of the story, please?" Emma interjected before the simmering woman next to her could snap and do something she would later regret. Emma knew that despite how much they tolerated one another, Regina still had a limited fuse when it came to the Charmings.

"Sure, sweetheart. I was just getting there now," Snow smiled back at her daughter. "This is the reason I wanted to speak to you both together." Emma and Regina exchanged a look which Snow couldn't quite place. She would be tempted to say it was a knowing look, but that couldn't be possible. So, she just narrowed her eyes slightly and continued with her story. "We then explained to Merlin what happened with Gold and the apprentice- and how the dark one was trying to tether itself to Regina." Emma and Regina watched the other woman become noticeably more fidgety as she spoke. "We said that you stopped Regina from becoming the Dark One by sacrificing yourself, Emma."

"Yes, we know all that, so what did he say?" Emma said trying to will the woman to continue.

"Well, here's the thing… Um…" Snow wrung her hands nervously, "I know you probably won't even believe me when I say this, but please just try and be open minded."

"We have been sitting here listening to you blather on with this goddamn story. Please don't try my patience any further. Just spit it out. I have better things to be doing with my time." Regina snapped.

"I was just trying to prepare you, I know how you both react to these sorts of things," Snow answered calmly.

"Okay we're ready, just hit us with it," Emma said as her mouth began forming a curve.

"Right, okay, I'll just get it over with quick. Get it out there in the open," Snow took a few breaths to try and quell her apprehension, not knowing how the other women would react to her revelation. "It's like ripping off a band-aid, better to get it done fast." A clearing of a throat interrupted the pep talk Snow hadn't realised she was giving herself out loud. She looked up with wide eyes to find Regina getting up from her seat. "Regina, please sit back down. You need to hear this too. It involves you just as much as it does Emma." Snow pleaded as the older woman was making her way toward the door of the study.

"Just give her a minute longer," Emma said as she placed her hand on the other woman's forearm, tilting her head towards to seat that had been vacated next to her on the sofa. With an exasperated shake of her head and yet another roll of her eyes, Regina sat back down next to Emma.

"Please do continue," Regina said as graciously as she could muster.

"Thank you, Regina." Snow smiled warmly at the other women, contemplating just how much she had changed in recent years. Yes, she had sacrificed herself time and again for the town. She had proven with grand feats of heroics that she was no longer the Evil Queen, but to Snow, it was the little things like this that reminded her of exactly how far her former nemesis had come. Sure, she still had plenty of sass, but Snow took her insults as a sign of affection rather than hatred. Regina glared back at her, but Snow still couldn't prevent the smile that was forming when thought about the other woman's redemption.

"Right, anyway let's get back to where I left off." Snow decided she would be best off plowing on with the last part of the story before completely losing her less-than-captive audience. "So, we informed Merlin of how Emma became the Dark One and he was shocked. Apparently once the Darkness' target is chosen usually nothing can change its path." Snow paused for effect; watching her daughter carefully for a reaction, but she seemed to be unfazed by developments. "Naturally, we told him about you being the product of true love and the Saviour." Snow beamed with pride- Emma just shrugged, "But he said that this had no impact on how the Darkness would change its target. In fact, he said it would make it less like less likely for you to become a Dark One in the first place." Again Snow paused to try and gauge the response of the room, but when all she saw were two heads nodding slightly. She continued. "So then David- being as clever as he is.' Regina couldn't hold back a snort of laughter at this point. Snow raised an eyebrow, but the older woman remained quietly amused. "He asked why the apprentice hadn't become the Dark One because, Emma had managed to use her magic to stop that."

Emma pondered this point internally for a moment. Coming up blank, she decided that she had to ask what the answer was out of curiosity. Even if it meant prolonging the story. "Well, why didn't he become the dark one if my magic can't be used to stop it?" For which she received a sharp elbow in the side and a pointed look from the woman next to her. Emma looked back apologetically before turning back to her mother.

"Apparently, as the apprentice had to work so closely with dark magic, Merlin had protected him from being affected by it. I don't really know the details." Snow hadn't paid much attention to the intricacies of how this had occurred, it didn't matter to her in the grand scheme of things.

"Fair enough, I suppose I can't save them all, can I?" the blonde joked as she let out a laugh, it quickly stopped when she was met with two unamused faces. "So back to how I sacrificed myself for Regina." Emma said turning to look affectionately at the woman next to her…wait, affectionately? That can't be right. Snow just shook it off and carried on regardless.

"Yes, well that's why it's so important that I talk to you both." The nerves were starting to build again, but she regrouped herself. "There is only one way that it would be possible for someone to prevent another person becoming the Dark One." She took another calming breath and closed her eyes briefly to gather herself. Therefore, she was unable to see the knowing exchange of looks between the two women on the sofa. " It can only be prevented by an act of True love." She let out the breath she was holding, relieved to have got the burden off her chest. "There I said it!"

Snow winced and braced herself for the barrage of denials, questions and insults to be thrown her way- but none came. "Look I understand you are both probably stunned into silence right now," Snow carried on obliviously, "but this is True Love we are talking about here." Snow was standing at this point; arms moving erratically during her impassioned plea, "Not a- _we are doing this because of Henry-_ situation. Or a - _this is a totally plutonic friendship, which is why we keep saving each other_ \- sort of thing. This is actual true love!" She shouted her last sentence; finishing her speech with laboured breathing and her chest heaving. She stared vacantly out the study window, brushing her dirty fingers through tangled hair. She couldn't bare to look at the other women, how could she possibly get them to understand.

"Yes, Mom. We know." Emma said whilst grabbing Regina's hand. She began chuckling at her Mother's increasingly animated state. Snow remained unaware that her daughter was speaking- or holding hands with the former Evil Queen for that matter.

Snow continued to speak obliviously,"I know you are both in relationships right now. I get that- I really do, but there is only one way to break a curse that is inflicted due to an act of True Love." Snow was pacing back and forth the study now, hands still running through her hair, " You'll need to perform True Love's Kiss."

"Actually…" Regina began but was shortly cut off by the increasingly agitated woman

"I know what you are going to say, Regina."

"I highly doubt it" Regina muttered under her breathe.

"I know you have a pixie dust ordained soulmate already, but…"

"Snow, can you for once in your life just shut the hell up and listen." Regina barked to get the younger woman's attention. Shocked, Snow turned around towards to sofa and made her way back to her seat in silence. "Finally" Regina closed her eyes for a few seconds and let out a long and exasperated breath. "Thank you," She said once she opened her eyes again and gestured for Emma to take over.

"Yeah, so the thing is" Emma started, unsure whether her mother was even listening to her as she stared forward wide-eyed and expressionless. "What we were trying to tell you since you since you got her is, well. I'm not the Dark One anymore." That got her mother's attention, "May I now present you with the newly Un-Dark-Oned, Emma Swan." Emma said with a wide smile and jazz hands, "Tah-Dah." Snow just stared back in confusion with her eyebrows furrowed; eye's shifting between the two smiling faces opposite her. A strangled noise was all she managed to produce as words were no longer forming. "We kinda already figured the whole true love thing out on our own" Emma turned to Regina. Both women looked lovingly at one another with matching lovesick grins; getting lost in each others gaze.

"H-how long have you known?" Snow managed to splutter out, finally having regained her ability her speak. Her eye's grew wider and eyebrows shot up her forehead as she took in the scene in front of her.

It was Regina's turn to answer, "Well if you're asking how long we have known we were in love? Then for me, it was at the town line after Pan cast his curse. I realised then that it wasn't just Henry who I was giving up, it was Emma too. I wanted to give them both a happy ending, even though I wanted more than anything to be a part of it." The older brunette gave a wistful smile as tears threatened to flow.

Emma turned to the woman next to her, taking both her hands in her own and looked straight into the brown eyes swirling with emotion. "I don't know much about happy endings Regina. I grew up in a world where they were just make-believe and the last few lines of kids books. But I do know that right now, in this moment, I'm happy. The moment we kissed and broke my curse, I was happy. The moment I came back to Storybrooke after regaining my memories and saw you, I was happy. Henry brought me here to bring back the happy endings, but I won't promise you a happy ending Regina. I don't want us to just have a happy ending, I want a happy beginning and middle too. So, I promise to try my best every single day to keep having happy moments with you."

Snow couldn't help but smile as she watched the two former nemeses, the mothers of her Grandson, look at each other with such adoration. She didn't know why she hadn't noticed it sooner; after all, she was the town's resident expert on all things true love related. "So when exactly did you two love birds share True Love's Kiss?" Snow asked, partly just to remind them she was still in the room.

"Ummm," Emma looked down at her watch then back at her mother, "roughly two weeks and six days now. Give or take an hour or so." She said with a grin.

Snow looked at the pair incredulously, shaking her head "Really? You couldn't have got your act together a day earlier and saved us all some trouble." She said, still unable to suppress her smile even when she was trying to scold them. "Or found some way to inform us that we could come home."

"I refuse to send you a message via a damn bluebird," Regina snarked back with a smirk, "and it's not like Camelot has great cell coverage."

"I suppose not," Snow chuckled, she could hardly be mad when two of the people she loved most were so happy, it was a bonus that it was because of each other. "Well, I expect you both around the loft for our welcome back meal. Feel free to bring desert." With that Snow got up to leave.

"Okay, we'll see you later then," Emma said getting up to see her mother to the door.

"Just so you know, I really am happy for you both." Snow said sincerely to her daughter and former enemy.

"Thank you, Snow" Regina replied with a genuine smile. Snow nodded in response and left with a wave over her shoulder.

She should probably go have that shower now, even she couldn't stand the smell for much longer.


End file.
